Thursday reader's view: Passion for students

Brian and Nancy Money

Published 10:33 am, Thursday, October 20, 2016

To the editor:

As parents of a student who has been able to experience having Kurt Yockey as a coach, we wholeheartedly endorse his candidacy for the Midland Public Schools Board of Education. Kurt’s integrity, leadership skills and passion for the students of our community are obvious in the way he conducts himself and in the decisions that he makes. MPS and the Midland community will benefit from having Kurt as a school board member.

Our son has had the privilege of playing for Kurt Yockey and through this experience we have gotten to know him as a coach and a person. Kurt mentored, taught and believed in our son. He taught him the game of football but more importantly as a parent, he taught him about how a coach can lead by example and how to get the best out of somebody. Kurt teaches these young men to stand up for what they know is right and that is exactly what he will do as a member of the school board.

Kurt was able to show the kids that being a coach is about more than just loving the game. It is about you conduct yourself, how you lead, how you act and how you react. These attributes will serve Kurt well as a school board member. He held them all to a very high athletic standard, but to an even higher personal and moral standard.

We could share all the statistics about how Kurt Yockey has been volunteering at Midland High School with the football program since he graduated from there. Or that he would drive from college and/or from lower Michigan to make many of the games. We could find out how many games MHS has won or how many offenses he has run. But as a parent, all of that is irrelevant. What is relevant is that Kurt is a man who cares deeply about the sport of football but even more deeply about the kids he coaches, their families and our community.

Kurt’s dedication to the Midland community and his desire for improvement in all that he does make him an excellent choice for the MPS school board.